Scott Alexander announces the winners of the 2019 Adversarial Collaboration Contest and reviews all entries, praising their strengths and noting their impact on readers. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the winners of the 2019 Adversarial Collaboration Contest. The winning entry is about calorie restriction and aging by Adrian Liberman and Calvin Reese, with a close second on the ethics of eating meat by David G and Froolow. Scott praises both entries for their different strengths: the calorie restriction piece for its focused approach on a factual question, and the meat ethics piece for its comprehensive review of arguments. He notes that the meat ethics collaboration had a significant impact on readers' eating habits. Scott then briefly reviews the other entries, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. He concludes by explaining the prize distribution and his decision not to run the contest next year, citing various challenges. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents the eight entries for the 2019 Adversarial Collaboration Contest, explaining the concept and announcing a future reader vote. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the entries for the 2019 Adversarial Collaboration Contest. He explains that adversarial collaboration involves two people with opposing views on a controversial issue working together to present a unified summary of evidence and implications. Eight teams submitted entries on various topics, ranging from infant circumcision to the significance of spiritual experiences. Scott provides links to each entry and mentions that readers will vote for their favorite collaboration at the end of two weeks, with the winners receiving $2500 in prize money. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces the second Adversarial Collaboration Contest, where people with opposing views collaborate on essays about controversial topics for prizes. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the second annual Adversarial Collaboration Contest on his blog. The contest encourages people with opposing views to collaborate on a balanced summary of evidence on a controversial topic. Participants form teams of two, write an essay together, and can win prize money. The post outlines the contest rules, including essay requirements, submission process, and judging criteria. Scott provides examples from the previous year's contest and explains how to find a collaboration partner through the blog's comments section. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines AI-generated poetry produced by Gwern's GPT-2 model trained on classical poetry, highlighting its strengths and limitations. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews Gwern's experiment in training GPT-2 on poetry. The AI-generated poetry shows impressive command of meter and occasionally rhyme, though it tends to degrade in quality after the first few lines. Scott provides numerous examples of the AI's output, ranging from competent imitations of classical styles to more experimental forms. He notes that while the AI sometimes produces nonsensical content, it can also generate surprisingly beautiful and coherent lines. The post concludes with a reflection on how our perceptions of poetry might be influenced by knowing whether it's human or AI-generated. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander introduces an 'Anxiety Sampler Kit' for testing various anxiety supplements, aiming to personalize treatment and gather data through self-experimentation. Longer summary

Scott Alexander introduces an experimental 'Anxiety Sampler Kit' designed to test the effectiveness of various supplements for treating anxiety. The kit contains 21 boxes with six different supplements and placebos, arranged randomly. Users try a box when feeling anxious, rate their response, and after completing all boxes, determine which supplement worked best for them. This approach aims to personalize treatment and gather data for a small placebo-controlled trial. Scott discusses the rationale behind personalized medicine and the challenges in predicting individual treatment responses. He invites Bay Area residents to participate in this self-experimentation project, with the condition that they share their results. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander introduces four adversarial collaboration contest entries to be published over the week, with a subsequent reader vote to determine the $1000 prize winner. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the publication of four entries from the adversarial collaboration contest. These collaborations involve two people with opposing views on a controversial topic working together to present a unified summary of evidence and implications. The four entries cover topics such as the US education system's service to advanced students, Islam's compatibility with liberal democracy, mandatory childhood vaccination, and transitioning for transgender children. Scott will post one entry per day and then open a poll for readers to vote on their favorite, with his own vote counting for 5% of the total. The winning entry will receive a $1000 prize, funded by Patreon donations. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces a contest for adversarial collaborations, offering prizes for teams who write balanced summaries on controversial topics they disagree about. Longer summary

Scott Alexander proposes a contest for adversarial collaborations, where two people with opposing views on a topic work together to write a balanced summary of the evidence. The goal is to provide readers with a fair assessment of controversial issues. Scott offers a $1000 prize for the best collaboration, with potential for a $250 second-place prize. He outlines rules for the contest, including writing as a united front, coming to a unified conclusion, and allowing publication on Slate Star Codex. The post encourages participants to find collaborators in the comments section and suggests topics could range from political issues to medicine, history, or religion. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander celebrates Slate Star Codex's fifth anniversary by thanking the many people who have contributed to the blog's success and growth. Longer summary

Scott Alexander celebrates the fifth anniversary of Slate Star Codex, thanking numerous individuals and groups who have contributed to the blog's success. He expresses gratitude to those who have helped with technical aspects, moderation, organization of meetups, and content creation. Scott also thanks his supporters, advertisers, and even his critics for their decency. He acknowledges the value of the blog's community, particularly in comments and survey participation, which has enabled interesting research findings. Shorter summary

A collection of interesting links covering science, technology, culture, and economics, including updates on DNA malware, AI gaming, prison censorship, and various scientific studies. Longer summary

This is a link roundup post covering various interesting news and studies. Topics include DNA-encoded malware, AI in gaming, prison book bans, studies on therapy effectiveness, global inequality trends, and various scientific and cultural curiosities. The post follows Scott's typical link roundup format, providing brief commentary and context for each item, often with a mix of serious analysis and humorous observations. He covers both academic research and popular culture, maintaining his characteristic balance of intellectual rigor and accessibility. Shorter summary

A Links post presenting various news items and articles, ranging from cultural curiosities like the multiocular O to scientific findings about brain sex differences and genetic research, along with commentary on current events and politics. Longer summary

Scott Alexander presents a collection of interesting links and articles covering a wide range of topics. The post includes scientific findings (like research on sex differences in the brain and studies on antidepressants), cultural curiosities (like rare Cyrillic letters), political developments (like the White House's decision on Exxon drilling rights), and various technological advances (like an AI that writes poetry). The post provides brief commentary on each link, often with Scott's characteristically analytical and sometimes humorous perspective on the implications of each item. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a diverse collection of interesting links covering politics, science, history, and culture, with brief commentary on each item. Longer summary

A curated collection of interesting links spanning various topics, compiled by Scott Alexander. The post covers a wide range of subjects including political events, scientific studies, historical anecdotes, and cultural phenomena. Among the notable items are stories about medieval fighting myths, a massive Chinese ghost mall, Japanese parliament members' nationalism, and various statistical studies. The post maintains a light, often humorous tone while presenting these diverse pieces of information, occasionally adding brief commentary or connections between different items. Shorter summary